What can smell tell us about the past? The Past in a New Light at the Akureyri Museum.

Historian Ragnhildur Björt Björnsdóttir explores the scents of the past in the lecture series The Past in a New Light at the Akureyri Museum on Thursday, March 5 at 17:00.  NB In Icelandic!

The history of emotions and the senses has received little attention until now. In autobiographical writings and journals from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, we find vivid descriptions of many different smells. People describe the fragrance rising from a bed of Iceland moss on a damp autumn morning, the aroma from the kitchen when mother baked pancakes, and the stench rising from the pot on laundry day. All these sources give us a deeper insight into the everyday lives of Icelanders in earlier times. By focusing on smell — by “sniffing out” the past — we gain knowledge about how people viewed themselves, others, and their environment.

The lecture will highlight several interesting descriptions of smell, with special emphasis on scents found in Akureyri and the surrounding area. A comparison will be made between the smells of rural and urban settings, and attention will be given to the different words used to describe various fragrances and odors.

Ragnhildur’s research project, The Sensory History of Iceland, was nominated for the 2025 Student Innovation Award. The project was supervised by Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon, Professor of Cultural History at the University of Iceland.

Where: Akureyri Museum, Aðalstræti 58
When: Thursday, March 5
Time: 17:00
Admission: Free

The lecture series The Past in a New Light is a collaboration between the Akureyri Academy, the Icelandic Historical Association, and the Akureyri Museum.
Hotel Akureyri sponsors the event.

Coming up:
March 12 – Against the Current: The Life of Sigríður Pálsdóttir (1809–1871) and Fragmented Sources. Dr. Erla Hulda Halldórsdóttir.

March 19 – Decorations in Later Manuscripts and the Work of a Northern Icelandic Manuscript Artist.
Kjartan Ísleifsson, historian.